And then there were none

While I had a number of influential professors in college that I admired and who inspired me in various ways, there were only two that stand out as being a life-altering influence to me. A few years ago, while at my college homecoming, I learned that one of them had recently (at the time) passed away. Dr. Donovan was my experimental psychology professor, and I was later a paid research assistant for her (in fact, I quit my well-paid-for-college job of 3.5 years at UPS to work with her for substantially less). It's a long story for another day, but while working on a project for her, I met my future wife, which led to my kids, and subsequently to where I am today, to oversimplify.

Today, I learned that the last of my college professors of life-altering influence passed only yesterday. Dr. Knight, the Psychology Department Chair, was my professor for psychological statistics and evolutionary psychology, who I was a teaching assistant for during the two semesters following my psych stat course with him. So for three semesters I spent a lot of time with him. At the time, psych stats was a five credit hour class, meaning I was in his room on the top floor of Old North every day for that year and a half. He is essentially the reason I became a psych major (instead of a comp sci major, another long story for another time), and thus why I even needed to take experimental psychology in the first place. I loved his teaching style, his grading methods, his general philosophy and approach to life, his quotes, and his great advice. In his classes (both those that I took and that I assisted for), I met several life long friends, and a girlfriend I cared a great deal about at the time. One of those friends was one of my closest, and became the godmother of my children, and for another I was the best man at his wedding.


Farewell Dr. Knight. Thank you for being a factor in what and where I am today. I was fortunate to have known you.





(my old home away from home, Old North, in a photo I took while visiting campus in 2004)


Update
Via another great college professor of mine, Dr. Hamlin:
"Dr. Knight's service will be this Saturday, May 1 at 11:00 a.m. in EVANS HALL (UCO Campus). Viewing is scheduled 4-9 on Thursday, 8am-9pm Friday, and until 5pm on Saturday at Matthews Funeral Home 601 S. Kelly, Edmond, OK. The family asks that contributions/donations should be sent to the Dr. Bill Frederickson Memorial Scholarship fund."


Update
Here is Dr. Knight's obituary.